The bleak health realities of North Korea are an understudied part of the larger problem of potential instability on the Korean peninsula. North Korea has an exceptionally high rate of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), an estimated 42% of its population is undernourished, and at least 3 in 10 North Korean citizens are stunted. From a health security standpoint, these are just a few of the health issues that can pose an immediate threat to the surrounding region, especially through the possibility that conflict in North Korea could ignite a mass exodus of North Korean refugees carrying infectious diseases such as MDR-TB into South Korea and China.
On Monday, October 29 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm, the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security will host a screening of its new film, The Gathering Health Storm Inside North Korea, followed by a roundtable discussion with regional experts and providers of humanitarian assistance moderated by film co-director J. Stephen Morrison. The film examines the rapid decay of North Korea’s health systems and the dangers it poses to neighboring countries, through interviews with experts on North Korea and health security and exclusive footage from inside the little-seen nation.
An exclusive preview of The Gathering Health Storm Inside North Korea is available here. Press are welcome to attend.Please direct any questions to Emily Foecke Munden ([email protected]). This event is made possible through the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Register here: https://www.csis.org/events/health-security-and-north-korea-film-screen…
Speakers
Shanelle Hall, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF
Victor Cha, Senior Adviser and Korea Chair, CSIS
Kee B. Park, Paul Farmer Global Surgery Scholar, Harvard Medical School
Sue Mi Terry, Senior Fellow, Korea Chair, CSIS
J. Stephen Morrison (moderator), Senior Vice President and Director, CSIS Global Health Policy Center